Faculty members, staff and students who have made significant achievements and academic contributions at the University of Central Florida were recognized at the annual Founders’ Day Honors Convocation on Wednesday, April 2, 2014.

From a biology professor who has been featured in two National Geographic Channel documentary films (William Crampton), to a Professor Emeritus who wrote the initial grant proposal to establish UCF’s highly ranked Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (Michael Moshell), and to a Grammy Award-winning saxophonist who is director of jazz studies (Jeffrey Rupert), the recipients were honored at a program and reception in the Student Union.

President John C. Hitt said the accomplishments recognized at the annual convocation continue to confirm the pursuit of excellence by those at the university.

Faculty members were honored for their achievements in excellence in teaching, advising, research, professional service, librarianship; completing 20, 30, 40, and 45 years of service; and retiring.

Founders’ Awards were presented to ten students who have demonstrated exceptional ability in a particular area of study.

One new honor presented this year was the Reach for the Stars Award, given to eight early-career professionals for their outstanding research or creative endeavors. The president said narrowing down the recipients was hard because there were so many noteworthy nominations, and he expects the choices will become more difficult in the years to come.

Pegasus Professor awards given out recognized extraordinary contributions to the UCF community through teaching, research and service. This is the highest honor a professor can receive in their time at UCF.

Four awards were presented to HIM students for outstanding theses.

Recently-graduated seniors who completed honors theses and seniors who are in the top one percent academically within each college were recognized.

The College of Sciences would like to extend its congratulations to all recognized at the Founder’s Day Honor’s Convocation for 2014. Without our outstanding professors and driven students, UCF would be the thriving academic institution it is today. We thank everyone for their hard work and continued excellence from all areas of the university.

A full list of Founder’s Day Honor’s Convocation Honorees for 2014 can be foundhere.